HTC One (M8) vs HTC One: 10 key differences

The HTC One M8 is finally here, having immediately gone on sale after last week’s launch event, and the question for HTC One owners is: Is it worth upgrading?

The answer is ultimately subjective, obviously, but to help you decide, we’ve pulled together 10 key differences between 2013’s award-winning HTC One and the spanking new HTC One (M8).

As always: no particular order, blah blah blah. Let’s dance!

1. The HTC One (M8) has a larger display

At 4.7in diagonally, The HTC One display was actually a few tenths of an inch smaller than that of the 5in Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z.

Things are a little closer this year, with the HTC One (M8) measuring 5in diagonally (right), while the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 weigh in at 5.1in and 5.2in respectively. But hey, what’s a few tenths of an inch between friends?

Of course, since the HTC One (M8) has a larger display than the HTC One, and since they both have 1080p resolutions, the former actually has a lower ‘pixels per inch’ (PPI) rating - though realistically you’d need binoculars to notice.

2. The HTC One (M8) has a faster processor

Last year’s HTC One had a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor; the HTC One (M8) leaps to the spanking new Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, matching the rival Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2.

3. The HTC One (M8)’s camera has a depth sensor

The HTC One (M8) drops the optical image stabilisation (OIS) found on the 2013 HTC One, but adds a depth sensor.

Using UFocus, you can change the focus on pictures taken with the M8’s Duo Camera.

“Selfies” are all the rage these days (that’s taking a picture of yourself; don’t forget to look surprised), and as such it makes sense that the front camera on the HTC One (M8) comes in at 5MP – a significant leap from the 2.1MP front camera on the first-generation HTC One.

5. The HTC One (M8) has Sense 6.0

The One (M8) of course arrives with the latest and greatest version of HTC’s Android UI, namely Sense 6.0.

The HTC One will get Sense 6.0 eventually, but comparative hardware limitations mean not all features will make the leap.

Graham Wheeler, a Product Manager with HTC, tells Trusted Reviews: “We are looking to include HTC Sense 6 into the HTC One. We’re not confirming the timing as yet. But we will look to include some of those features. Obviously it won’t include some of the hardware aspects such as the depth sensor in the camera. Everything we can include, we will include.”

6. The HTC One (M8) has a microSD slot

Here’s one of the major differences between the HTC One (M8) and the HTC One: the HTC One (M8) has a microSD slot. YES.

The lack of microSD was a real deal-breaker for some potential HTC One buyers, but the HTC One (M8) will welcome cards up to 128GB in size. Can’t argue with that.

7. The HTC One (M8) has on-screen buttons

Not a huge deal, obviously, but the HTC One (M8) takes the buttons sitting below the HTC One’s display, and puts them on the screen.

Some users prefer on-screen buttons, since they can be customised and animated (and dismissed when appropriate), while others bemoan the wasted real estate below the display and the space taken on-screen.

The HTC One (M8) still has a fairly significant HTC logo below the display, so we imagine this one will prove divisive.

8. The HTC One (M8) has a bigger battery

New models generally mean bigger batteries, and here we’re going from 2,300mAh on the HTC One to 2,600mAh on the HTC One (M8).

It’s difficult to compare them directly, since the HTC One (M8) has a larger display and what not, but! It’s worth noting that the new model also has something called Extreme Power Saving mode, which kills various functions (other than basic calls, texts, emails, the calculator and the calendar) and stretches your final 5% of battery for up to 15 hours.

9. The HTC One (M8) has the ‘Dot View’ case

With its “retro” looks and “revolutionary” functionality, the HTC One (M8)’s ‘Dot View’ case offers an array of phone-based goodness without having to expose the phone.

For example, you can answer calls simply by lifting the HTC One (M8) to your ear, while a double tap brings up the time.

The extra screen estate of the M8 is frequently occupied by the onscreen buttons, isn't it?
And point 3 should include the fact that the HTC One M8 ditched OIS in favour of the dual lens stuff. I read a few reviews that aren't too happy with the trade-off.

The extra screen estate of the M8 is frequently occupied by the onscreen buttons, isn't it?
And point 3 should include the fact that the HTC One M8 ditched OIS in favour of the dual lens stuff. I read a few reviews that aren't too happy with the trade-off.

Yikes! Didn't know about that trade off. Considering the dual camera is kinda gimmicky, i don't think it's worth it.
Also, I don't know why HTC moved the buttons on screen and kept the huge-ass bezel at the bottom. If decreasing the bezel wasn't possible, IMO it would have been better to keep the buttons there.

The extra screen estate of the M8 is frequently occupied by the onscreen buttons, isn't it?
And point 3 should include the fact that the HTC One M8 ditched OIS in favour of the dual lens stuff. I read a few reviews that aren't too happy with the trade-off.

Yikes! Didn't know about that trade off. Considering the dual camera is kinda gimmicky, i don't think it's worth it.
Also, I don't know why HTC moved the buttons on screen and kept the huge-ass bezel at the bottom. If decreasing the bezel wasn't possible, IMO it would have been better to keep the buttons there.

The move to on screen buttons fits with Google's ideals for Android experience. Sense excepted of course :/
But agree, why the need for the large bezel at the bottom in that case?

The extra screen estate of the M8 is frequently occupied by the onscreen buttons, isn't it?
And point 3 should include the fact that the HTC One M8 ditched OIS in favour of the dual lens stuff. I read a few reviews that aren't too happy with the trade-off.

Yikes! Didn't know about that trade off. Considering the dual camera is kinda gimmicky, i don't think it's worth it.
Also, I don't know why HTC moved the buttons on screen and kept the huge-ass bezel at the bottom. If decreasing the bezel wasn't possible, IMO it would have been better to keep the buttons there.

The move to on screen buttons fits with Google's ideals for Android experience. Sense excepted of course :/
But agree, why the need for the large bezel at the bottom in that case?

The extra screen estate of the M8 is frequently occupied by the onscreen buttons, isn't it?
And point 3 should include the fact that the HTC One M8 ditched OIS in favour of the dual lens stuff. I read a few reviews that aren't too happy with the trade-off.

Yikes! Didn't know about that trade off. Considering the dual camera is kinda gimmicky, i don't think it's worth it.
Also, I don't know why HTC moved the buttons on screen and kept the huge-ass bezel at the bottom. If decreasing the bezel wasn't possible, IMO it would have been better to keep the buttons there.

The move to on screen buttons fits with Google's ideals for Android experience. Sense excepted of course :/
But agree, why the need for the large bezel at the bottom in that case?

i've read that the large bezel is for the front facing speakers.

That's correct, but the the original HTC one also had fron facing speakers but the bezel was smaller (because the buttons were not on screen)

Just to be clear, the bezel on the original One included the capacitive buttons,. The M8 has the same size bezel, without the buttons, but the screen is bigger to cater for the onscreen ones. The bezel at the bottom with just the HTC logo is indeed a waste of space (imo)

And numerous of HTC's helpful pop-ups keep popping up after you tell them to stfu forever!

Mind you - it looks better than Touchwiz, is faster and you can remove fr*gging Blinkfeed.

Gallery is a bit of a sucky thing though - seems Apple aren't alone in building devices hyped for their camera prowess to then screw up some basics.
My M8 takes quite a bit of time to update the gallery app. New photos or screenshot take
10-30 secs to show up. For a super duper quad-core RAM monster it's very disappointing.

On a semi-positive note: I do not find the results from the dual camera setup as bad as some make it out to be. I have used all
Lumia flagshippies, and in comparison Nokia's hyped 'Lenses' for Action scenes, Motion Blur etc suck. Completely.
I got some fairly good bursts with the One M8 in cr*ppy light.
On a Lumia 1020 or 1520 you need absolutely IDEAL conditions to get anything useful out of a sequence/burst shot.
There...

And numerous of HTC's helpful pop-ups keep popping up after you tell them to stfu forever!

Mind you - it looks better than Touchwiz, is faster and you can remove fr*gging Blinkfeed.

Gallery is a bit of a sucky thing though - seems Apple aren't alone in building devices hyped for their camera prowess to then screw up some basics.
My M8 takes quite a bit of time to update the gallery app. New photos or screenshot take
10-30 secs to show up. For a super duper quad-core RAM monster it's very disappointing.

On a semi-positive note: I do not find the results from the dual camera setup as bad as some make it out to be. I have used all
Lumia flagshippies, and in comparison Nokia's hyped 'Lenses' for Action scenes, Motion Blur etc suck. Completely.
I got some fairly good bursts with the One M8 in cr*ppy light.
On a Lumia 1020 or 1520 you need absolutely IDEAL conditions to get anything useful out of a sequence/burst shot.
There...

I never suffered from the glitches you refer to on the Blinkfeed GUI. But then I always install Apex Launcher anways
I've just stuck the GPe ROM on my M8 and batter life is better :/
Still using Apex, so no daily difference, but more stock android for all the 'settings' stuff.
I've always used swiftkey and quickpic for Keyboard & Gallery. Never got on with the HTC keyboard so went back to swiftkey in a flash. That HTC gallery is just nonsense and I got fed up with Zoe interfering every time I wanted to view my pics.
Low light pics are fab. bright light pics are awkward, with ethier overblown highlights or undexposed parts.
Other than that I'm very chuffed.

I never suffered from the glitches you refer to on the Blinkfeed GUI. But then I always install Apex Launcher anways
I've just stuck the GPe ROM on my M8 and batter life is better :/
Still using Apex, so no daily difference, but more stock android for all the 'settings' stuff.
I've always used swiftkey and quickpic for Keyboard & Gallery. Never got on with the HTC keyboard so went back to swiftkey in a flash. That HTC gallery is just nonsense and I got fed up with Zoe interfering every time I wanted to view my pics.
Low light pics are fab. bright light pics are awkward, with ethier overblown highlights or undexposed parts.
Other than that I'm very chuffed.

I went for smart Launcher. It's very light-weight and minimalistic.
I can't root the M8 cause it's not mine
Battery life is not bad actually - but then, I used an iPhone 5s recently for 3 weeks. iOS 7.1.1
messed that up completely, and I charged it constantly.
I installed the Google Keyboard, and it's much better - though, gawd knows why they hide some special keys the way they do, but hey...

Gallery? I don't mind the Zoe integration - though: hitting what I took to be a photo just to hear some blaring music to a slideshow put me off a bit initially. I just ignore the Zoe thing now, and
photos load quickly (I have some 8,000 on the 64GB SDS Card I use. No lag).

I guess I will have to spend some more time with it - just focus on what I need to use.
Otherwise Android will drive me nuts. I really think it's a messy, insane OS. The M8 is fast, though.

As the camera, I agree. Exactly as you say. I was on a walk in the woods last night. Fairly late. Not much light. Photos came out amazingly crisp. But any slightly bright bits of sky are glaringly white...
Some action shots of my crazy cats running through the garden came out much better than expected, too. Better than what the iPhone 5S's burst mode produced.

Still some annoyances: everytime I open an email attachment or install an app HTC Backup reminds me to back it up. EVERY TIME I hit "don't show this again"... And boom, there it is.

Anyhoo... It definitely beats the Z1 - the last Android device I used for more than a few hours.
But Android just has to much going on that I do not like - nor need. The way almost every app, native or 3rd party, wants cloud access? You can't listen to a song without first checking is somebody trying to download fr*gging lyrics? Whenever I use the HTC Music Player, the songs I play have different album art... WTF?

A plus: I like the feel. Big, but perfectly useable with one hand. Solid - like an iPhone 5 mixed with a Lumia 920.

And some Android apps are nice. Though: why on earth Twitter feels it has to give every OS its
own app UI is beyond me!!!! They killed dozens of 3rd party apps to "create a unified experience" on all OSs, yet iOS, Android, WP and BB10 all have very different apps, and the iOS one is far far superior in every aspect.

But I'm going off topic.

Considering that I loathe Android I'm having a fairly good time with the HTC One M8.